Elk Prairie Campground

A 75-site developed campground sits at the southern end of Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, about six miles north of Orick. It works best as an overnight base: the visitor center and old-growth trailheads are a short walk away, with more than 70 miles of hiking and biking trails in the area. Roosevelt elk and black-tailed deer graze in nearby Elk Prairie. Most campsites are under leafy maples outside the old-growth forest, so expect a woodsy setting rather than a site among towering redwoods.

Most sites are screened by vegetation; a few border Prairie Creek, and only a handful offer a creek view. The prairie-edge sites are more open and sunny, but sit below an embankment that blocks the meadow view. Check the site details if shade, creek access or separation from neighbors matters to you. Some campers report close sites and noise.

Reservations are essential from May through October. From early October to mid-May, sites switch to first-come, first-served, with availability checked at the campground kiosk; the seasonal handoff overlaps, so confirm which system applies to your dates. There are no electric hookups, 21 tent-only sites, one RV-only site, and limits of 27 feet for RVs and 24 feet for trailers. Four cabins are ADA accessible; campsites are level and surfaced with aggregate, and an ADA trail connects the campground to the amphitheater. You'll find potable water, flush toilets, hot showers, picnic tables and food-storage lockers. Firewood is sold, but there is no camp store, ice sales or dump station. Fires are limited to provided rings or portable camp stoves.

Prairie Creek's first campground opened in 1934 beneath the old-growth redwoods near today's Revelation Trail. It had cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and cottages moved from a nearby private resort dating to the 1920s. Today's Elk Prairie campground was added in 1949 to increase capacity. The older forest campground closed in the late 1960s after falling trees and debris were judged a danger to campers.